Valley of Fire State Park hours, closures and best departure times

Valley of Fire State Park hours in 2026

Day use starts at sunrise and finishes at sunset, every day of the year except the December maintenance period. The official park page states it that way rather than giving clock times, because the window tracks the sun: a visit in late December gives you a short day, one in June a very long one. Check the sunrise and sunset times for your actual date before you plan the drive out.

The scenic driving inside the park follows the same clock, and so do the trails, which are off limits between sunset and sunrise unless you are at a park-approved event. Nothing in the park is open at night for general visitors.

When the Visitor Center and the park office are staffed

The Visitor Center works a shorter day than the park itself: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., seven days a week, the gift shop keeping the same window, and holiday dates may run differently. That matters if you arrive at first light, because for the first part of a winter morning there is nobody at the desk to tell you about conditions or the climbing areas. The park asks you to stop there early in the visit all the same, so work it in once it opens.

Administrative business, camping questions included, is handled Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., and that office is closed on state holidays. There is no weekend cover for it. The park phone is 702 397 2088 if you need to confirm something before you set off, and the address is 29450 Valley of Fire Rd, Overton, NV 89040.

What sunset actually means at the gate

Day visitors are required to be out of the park at sunset, and the rule is enforced at the gate. The only people allowed inside after hours are those attending a park-approved event, and their vehicles have to be off the ground by 9 p.m. Plan your last stop so you are driving towards a fee booth with light still in the sky rather than finishing a walk in the dark.

Build in the driving. Between the West and East fee booths you cover 7.0 miles at 35 mph, and the White Domes branch adds 5.5 miles at 25 mph, about 20 minutes each way from the Visitor Center. With nearly a million visitors a year and designated parking only, the lots at the popular trailheads fill long before the park empties.

The Valley of Fire December closure: 1 to 14 December 2026

Every year the park closes completely for maintenance from 1 December to 14 December. For 2026 that runs Tuesday 1 December through Monday 14 December, with normal operations resuming Tuesday 15 December 2026, as published on the Nevada State Parks news feed on 19 October 2026.

The gates stay shut for the whole fortnight. Nobody may enter during those dates, not even on foot, so parking outside and walking in is not a workaround. Commercial activity is prohibited too, explicitly including guided tours, weddings and photo shoots, and camping reservations are not available for those nights. If your Las Vegas trip falls in that fortnight, move the park day to 15 December or later and spend the first half of the month elsewhere.

• Closed to all visitation Tuesday 1 December to Monday 14 December 2026
• No entry on foot, by bike or by vehicle during the closure
• Guided tours, weddings and photo shoots are not permitted inside the park
• Camping cannot be booked for the closure dates
• Normal operations resume Tuesday 15 December 2026

Which gate is open on your day of the week

Opening hours are the same at both entrances, but in 2026 only one of them is reliably available. Since 3 August 2026 the West Entrance, the gate reached from Interstate 15, has not opened Monday to Thursday while crews build an additional entrance lane and a second fee booth, work the park expects to continue through the end of 2026. Friday, Saturday and Sunday it keeps normal hours.

On Monday to Thursday you enter from the East Entrance, signed off State Route 169 or State Route 167. That approach is longer from Las Vegas than the interstate turn-off, so a weekday visit eats into the daylight you came for. Picking a Friday to Sunday date is the simplest fix; if the date is fixed, leave town earlier.

Picking a date and a departure time from Las Vegas

Three decisions settle the whole day: a date outside 1 to 14 December, a day of the week that matches the entrance you want, and a start early enough that sunset does not cut your walking short. The drive from Las Vegas is about an hour, so a morning start is what puts you at the trailheads while the lots still have space and the light is still low on the sandstone.

If you are not driving yourself, the tours on this site are built around that same daylight window. Door to door, the small group half day trip takes 6 hours, which drops neatly between a morning pick-up in town and the sunset deadline; it goes from $99, is rated 5.0 ★ (4125 reviews), collects you at one of several points in Las Vegas and counts Valley of Fire State Park admission among the inclusions. Walkers are better served by the guided hike: 5 hours, from $129, rated 5.0 ★ (1696 reviews), hotel pick-up and drop-off, a professional guide, snacks and water, the hike level set when you book and a look at the Visitor Center where time allows. Take the earliest start offered when you check availability.

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